Customer Reviews

Before They Were the Bombers: The New York Yankees' Early Years, 1903-1919

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being the first person to review this book shows that this book is a nugget that has been ignored by readers interested in baseball history. Author Jim Reisler takes us back to the beginning of the 20th century of baseball's dead ball era. The New York Highlanders opened the 1903 season after the franchise was moved from Baltimore and sold to owners Frank Farrell and Bill Devery for $18,000. Managed by the likes of Clark Griffith, Kid Elberfeld, George Stallings, Harry Wolverton, Hal Chase, Frank Chance, and Roger Peckinpaugh the Highlanders of 1903-1915 had very un-Yankee like years while residing at Hilltop Park at 168th Street and Broadway and then at the Polo Grounds. This is also the story of Willie Keeler of "hit 'em where they ain't" fame and Happy Jack Chesbro who won 41 games in 1904 and then losing the pennant when he threw a wild pitch (past ball?)as the winning run scored. The book is also about gambling and the fixing of games during this time period. The author spends a lot of time on Hal Chase, who author and baseball historian Fred Lieb said "had a corkscrew brain." Chase had a reputation of being a superb defensive first baseman when the mood suited him. However, as the author points out, Chase remains the league's all-time leader for errors at first base with 285. Chase made numerous promises to turn over a new leaf each year and with each new team he played with, but all to no avail. His drinking and gambling had too great a hold on him, and shortly before his death he is quoted as saying, "I'd give anything if I could start in all over again. What a change there would be in the life of Hal Chase." What a sad ending for anyone to review their life this way. Reisler briefly mentions Chase's possible role in the 1919 World Series fix, and states that "the White Sox players were eventually found guilty and banned for life from baseball." I'm sure the author is aware that the eight players were acquitted in a court of law and then banned from baseball by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Author Reisler concludes the book with the demise of those influential in the Highlanders' history and also a photo of the approximate location of home plate on the site of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. The author correctly points out by saying "New York is like that--turn a street corner, take note of where you are and you're likely to be somewhere with a rich past." Yankee fan or not, this book should be read and reviewed by many others besides myself. Do yourself a favor and read it.

As a life-long Yankee fan, I really wanted to like this book, and it did in fact have a lot of interesting material on the first dozen years of the team's history, hence the two stars. However, there were a number of items that detracted from the enjoyment of the book:

There are probably a couple of dozen editorial gaffes - missing, extra, or incorrect words or phrases - not a huge deal, but something a good editor should have caught.

Then there are the factual issues. Although the author demonstrates a good knowledge of the early Yankees, there is some confusion regarding other clubs. Mr. Reisler has a particular problem with the AA and NL New York teams of the 1880's - he has the Giants (renamed from "Metropolitans") joining the AA in 1882, moving to the NL in 1883, and winning the AA championship in 1884. In fact, the Metropolitans were in the AA from 1883 through 1887, and the Gothams/Giants in the NL beginning in 1883. Also mentioned as co-tenants of the early Polo Grounds is a team called the "Nationals" - this must be the NL Giants? Wow.

There were "thousands of major league games" played in 1903, while in fact there were barely 1100 played in both leagues.

The Highlanders came to Boston in June of 1904 for "oddly, one game only", but managed to play three games with a "fourth game. ... rained out".

Jack Chesbro pitched 454 innings in 1904, but only 303 the following year, "less than half the innings" of 1904.

The Yankees were in third place on Labor Day, 1911, six games over .500, but finished 6-16 to end the season at 76-76 - in fact, they were 10-16 after Labor Day.

Walter Johnson, in 1912, was becoming the superstar he'd be "for the next two decades", if two decades is the same as 15 years - he retired after 1927.

The 1914-15 Federal League's Pittsburgh entry is called the "Stogies", who were, in fact, the city's team in the 1884 Union Association - the FL team was the Rebels.

To borrow Mr. Reisler's favorite term (which is employed much too often), you get the idea.

Then there are the howlers: "Standing 5'10" and weighing 160 pounds, his hands were oversized" - I'll say! And, the "fife and drum corps led by a small boy in a tall fur hat that played a number of tunes" - talented hat, that. And, Lawrence Ritter's "The Glory of Their Times" referred to as a "classic pantheon to baseball" - perhaps "paen" was the desired word? Did anyone proof-read this?

Finally, there is his use of the first edition (1969) of the Macmillan encyclopedia as the source for the statistical appendix. There are so many more up-to-date sources available, both in print and online - why use one that's almost 40 years old? Some of the resulting discrepancies are glaring - Orth and Chesbro are listed with 25 and 22 wins, respectively, in 1906, while they are now commonly credited with 27 and 23. Completely unnecessary.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book, but many of the reasons were not intended by the author. Alternating between interesting, annoying, and funny, it was a unique experience.

This book focuses on the early years of the Yankees before Babe Ruth and the decades of championships that followed. I was particularly interested in the first ten years, with players like Willie Keeler, Jack Chesbro and Hal Chase, and I was pleased with how they were brought to life again. Although the gap in time has grown and there is a lack of significant resources from which to gather information from that era, the stories of these men come across fresh, detailed and vivid. Despite this, my one complaint would be that sometimes the author goes on too long in certain areas and wanders around a bit more than needed. Nevertheless, a great book for any baseball fan or New York fan.